I Got The News Today (IGTNT) is one of the oldest continuous series on Daily Kos. It is a way for our community to pay respect to those who have died while in service to our nation.
Tonight we remember one of our finest, who is the first of our soldiers killed in action in Afghanistan this year. U.S. forces in Afghanistan are charged primarily with advising and assisting Afghan security forces, but the U.S. military also conducts counter-terrorism combat operations against groups such as Daesh and al-Qaida under Operation Freedom’s Sentinel.
Staff Sergeant Mark R. De Alencar
Mark De Alencar came from a military family. His father was an Army veteran with more than 20 years of service. The family was stationed in Germany when Mark was born. He lived in Texas for a time before moving to Maryland.
Mark was a a member of the football team at Joppatowne High School in Joppa, Maryland and met his future wife, Natasha Brown, at the school. He graduated in 1998 and Natasha graduated in 1996.
He had been living in Florida with Natasha and their five children before he was sent to Afghanistan.
An article from The Baltimore Sun quotes a relative of Natasha:
Jansen Robinson, a resident of Edgewood and a member of the Harford County Board of Education, is a relative of De Alencar through marriage — his niece, Natasha, is De Alencar's wife.
Natasha De Alencar is also Joppatowne High School graduate. He said the couple, which he said were "soulmates" had five children and had been together for about 15 years.
"They shared a life together," Robinson said. "She was his rock, he was her rock, so she's taking it pretty hard."
De Alencar joined the Army in 2009 and had served previously as an infantryman, with deployments to Iraq. He had recently joined Special Forces as a weapons sergeant after completing the Qualification Course in September of 2016.
Staff Sergeant De Alencar was assigned to 1st Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. His battalion and the Afghan troops were operating in the Nangarhar province in the eastern part of the country.
De Alencar died on April 8th, in the Nangarhar Province of Afghanistan. He was killed when his unit came in contact with enemy forces using small arms fire during combat operations. The Staff Sergeant was 37 years old.
Awards given to Staff Sergeant Mark R. De Alencar, include the Purple Heart, five Army Commendation Medals, six Army Achievement Medals, the Iraq Campaign Medal with two stars, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Expert Infantryman Badge, the Special Forces tab, the Ranger tab, the Parachutist Badge and the Air Assault Badge.
Services for Staff Sergeant Mark R. De Alencar are planned to be held at Arlington Cemetery. The date and time is unknown.
This tribute was quoted on the Stars and Stripes site:
“On behalf of all of U.S. Force -Afghanistan, I offer our deepest condolences to the family and friends of our fallen comrade,” Gen. John Nicholson, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, said Saturday in a statement. “We will always remember our fallen comrades and commit ourselves to deliver on their sacrifice.”
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About the IGTNT series:
”I Got the News Today” is a diary series intended to honor, respect, and remember the fallen, and to remind us that each casualty has family and friends who received the terrible news that their loved one has died. US service members whose names have been released by the US Department of Defense will usually be diarized two days or so after the official announcement on the DoD website. This allows the IGTNT team to cover each person more fully, but still in a timely manner. Click the #IGTNT tag to see previous diaries in the series, which was begun by i dunno, and is maintained by i dunno, Sandy on Signal, Monkeybiz, Noweasels, Blue Jersey Mom, Chacounne, twilight falling, SisTwo, Spam Nunn, True Blue Majority, CalNM, Wide Awake in Kentucky, maggiejean, Jax Dem, The Fat Lady Sings, Ekaterin, & Joy of Fishes. These diaries are heartbreaking to write, but show our community’s respect for those who have died.
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Please bear in mind that these diaries are read by friends and family of the service members mentioned here. May all of our remembrances be full of compassion rather than politics.